Blog No. 190: Bitty and Beau's Coffee Shops, Oysters, Animal Stories

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Bitty and Beau's Coffee Shops

Let me introduce you to the 2017 CNN Hero of the Year, Amy Wright. Together with her husband Ben, they are proud parents of four children and founder of a chain of coffee shops called Bitty and Beau's, named for two of their kids who happen to have been born with Down's Syndrome. When the kids were young, they started taking a hard look around at the opportunities for people with disabilities and were dismayed at what they saw.  With two hundred million people across the world living with intellectual or developmental disabilities, “they were shocked to learn that 80% of people with disabilities didn’t have jobs in our country,” Amy says. “We didn’t want our kids growing up in a world that didn’t think they should have the same opportunities as other people. 

So Amy took matters into her own hands and the couple decided to open their first Bitty and Beau's coffee shop, in Wilmington, North Carolina.  Dedicated to advancing the inclusion of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the workplace, they hired 19 employees with disabilities of all kinds and created an environment where diversity is not just appreciated, it is celebrated. Serving delicious coffee and typical coffee shop fare, Bitty and Beau's pays all of its workers above minimum wage with opportunities for raises and promotions. The way they see it, Bitty and Beau's is a Human Rights movement disguised as a coffee shop.

Today, there are twenty Bitty & Beau’s employing more than 400 people with Down's syndrome, autism, and other disabilities. They are constantly growing, with locations now in Birmingham and Auburn Alabama, Boulder Colorado, Washington DC, Jacksonville Florida, Savannah Georgia, Annapolis Maryland, Ann Arbor Michigan, Winston-Salem, Charlotte and Wilmington North Carolina, Columbus, Pittsburgh and Bethlehem Pennsylvania, Columbia and Charleston South Carolina, and Frisco Waco and Houston, Texas. Franchise opportunities are available.

Oysters

An oyster farm in the Damariscotta River

I have thought of myself as many things but I never thought I would be a connoisseur of oysters too. But here I find myself smack in the middle of prime oyster country up here in midcoast Maine and to taste them is to love them. "Eating a raw oyster is a uniquely visceral experience" says oyster expert Rowan Jacobsen. And I would have to agree!

Thousands of years ago, Native Americans knew that the river had these gifts to give and were already harvesting, eating, and even relocating these prized oysters to other watersheds. But wild oysters, once abundant in U.S. waters, fell victim to centuries of overfishing, pollution and habitat devastation, desecrating their population drastically (sounds like a familiar story!). So today, more than 95 percent of all the oysters consumed in the country are cultivated on highly sustainable aquafarms.

The Damariscotta River is a perfect storm of conditions to produce some of the best oysters in the world: a cold mix of sea and fresh water that makes for a perfect salinity, a river rich in phytoplankton that the oysters feed on, hearty tides that replenish twice a day, a perfect temperature, and a very cooperative community of oyster farmers whose farms dot the region.

According to Rowan Jacobsen, who has written several books on oysters and the environment, “among Maine’s string of finger estuaries, the Damariscotta River stands out. It’s the best spot in Maine for growing oysters... This river is the Northeast’s Côte-d’Or, and for an oyster: it’s heaven on earth."--A Geography of Oysters

Here is a description of the area and a list below of the individual oyster farms:--
DODGE COVE MARINE FARM
GLIDDEN POINT OYSTER FARMS
GREAT SALT BAY OYSTER COMPANY
HERON ISLAND OYSTERS
JOHNS RIVER OYSTER
MOOK SEA FARM
NORUMBEGA OYSTER, INC.
PEMAQUID OYSTER COMPANY

Look for these particular oysters the next time you dine out: you will find them in restaurants across the country and beyond. Just like wine, “the same kind of grape varietal can take on a completely different personality depending on where and how it’s grown. It’s the same with oysters.”

My personal favorites so far are the Norumbega, the Moondancers and Glidden Points.

Animal Stories


About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow, began writing the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.

Source: https://pamelasmilow.substack.com/p/bitty-...